Kim Chaeji

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE!?!?!?!?!"

Suddenly, I felt the dark visionary world disappear right before my very eyes into a realm of light as I awoken from my slumber. I opened my eyes to see Taehyung sleeping in front of me. Wait. What? Did I just say Taehyung sleeping in front of me?

Long eyelashes.

Long nose.

Hyun Family-like facial features.

I blinked a few times before confirming that Taehyung was indeed in front of me. I jolted and fell off my bed in surprise while I flailed my arms in a ridiculous fashion.

The source of the voice then sprinted over to me while asking, "Are you okay, Chaeji? I didn't mean to scare you like that!"

I sleepily looked up at the person to see Hanbin crouched over next to me, "Hmm?"

I rubbed my eyes to clear my morning vision. Curtly, the image from last night was replaying in my head. Taehyung and I talking in my bedroom until we both just fell asleep. I said Taehyung, right?

Quickly, I whipped my head to look at my bed, and there lay a sleeping Taehyung. How is he not awake from Hanbin's screaming? It's like his sleeping habits are turning into hibernation...everyday.

"How is he sleeping?" Hanbin asks as he peers up at the log on my bed. His face then slightly blooms a shade of pink as he holds his snapback down to cover his face, "...and why was he in your bed?"

I slowly looked over at Hanbin in annoyance. It's the morning and he's already asking too many questions. Okay, only two questions, but it's the morning, "Why are you here in the morning?"

He scratched the back of his head as Taehyung continued to peacefully sleep, "I wanted both of us to walk over to Taehyung's house to celebrate his birthday...but it looks like he's here." I nodded in acknowledgement, "But you still didn't answer my question, Chaeji."

"I don't know how that babo sleeps," I responded as I jokingly nudged the imaginary hair Hanbin had on top of his snapback.

Hanbin laughs, "I meant my other question, why is Taehyung in your bed?"

I paused for a moment before responding, "I was in dire need of someone to talk to, and like we did as children, Taehyung fortunately appeared through my window and we talked until midnight. It was a nice feeling."

Hanbin nodded in acknowledgement, "A-are you okay now?"

"I'll tell you about it later. For now, let's celebrate Taehyung's birthday." I answered with a smiled, "Now let's wake Taehyung up!"

Kim Hanbin

Something big probably happened last night between Taehyung and Chaeji. Did he confess? Did they kiss? Are they dating? As a friend, I know I shouldn't be thinking this way, but these hasty ideas continue on creeping into my mind. It's not like I can control it! It just happens! My heart just ached knowing that Chaeji and Taehyung spent the night together, considering that Chaeji acknowledges my feelings for her. Climbing into each other's windows was a normal thing as kids, but since we're teenagers, it's a whole different story.

Chaeji promised to tell me about last night which I am quite anxious to hear about, but a spec in my heart is telling me that I should be worrying. Should I be worrying?

"Yah. Stop daydreaming about Taehyung. Let's wake him up," Chaeji abruptly cuts my stream of thought, "We're already done with the surprise anyway." The surprise as Chaeji mentioned was rolling Taehyung into Chaeji's blankets and sheets. It's as if he looks like a giant sushi roll.

"I was not daydreaming about Taehyung. If I were daydreaming, you'd know who I would be dreaming about." I sassily responded with a smirk written across my face.

Chaeji kept a placid facial expression, "Definetely Taehyung. Now let's wake him up."

We then pushed Taehyung's body off of the bed and screamed, "YAH. BABO. HAPPY BIRTHDAY."

With Taehyung on the floor, he sat right up once he heard the both of us scream. His eyes were still closed, but we clearly knew that he was awake.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!" Taehyung screamed and lay back on the floor to go to sleep. Really? We have plans for you, birthday boy.

"I'm going to drag your sleeping body down the stairs if you don't wake up, Taehyung. Unless you want to repeat what happened last time," Chaeji threatens in a menacing tone with her arms folded, "Unless you prefer the countdown method.." 

Taehyung jumps up like a spring and firmly stands on the ground, "I'm awake! I'm awake! Just please don't do that again!" he pleads.

"Happy birthday, Taehyung!" Chaeji cheers as she tackles Taehyung down to the ground for a hug. I, too, joined in on the hug fest.

Kim Taehyung

​After waking up this morning, it seemed like such a hassle, even if it is my birthday today. I know Chaeji and I slept together and obviously did nothing wrong, but I slightly felt guilty, and happy at the same time. Knowing that both Hanbin and I are love rivals for Chaeji makes it seem bad enough. If we didn't have any of these feelings or whatsoever, it probably wouldn't matter to anyone. I was just happy to spend time with Chaeji as we counted down to my birthday. That experience was really special to me.

Anyway, we all decided to go to the zoo to celebrate my birthday. It's one of my favorite places in the world. Although it's straight up December, some of the animal exhibits are open, whereas some are off limits in this cold weather.

Luckily, the lion exhibit is open this week, and I'm extremely excited to see them!

"Are you ready for the lion exhibit, Taehyung?" Chaeji asks.

​"Are you ready for the lion exhibit, Hanbin?" I asked.

"Are you ready for the lion exhibit, Chaeji?" Hanbin asks Chaeji.

We laughed at our small back-and-forth conversation. Finding the lion exhibit is one of most challenging paths n this zoo. The visitors are either stupid, or the map maker has horrible drawing skills. I blame the map maker.

"There! Is that it? Could that be it?" Hanbin excitedly yells as he points over at an exhibit.

Chaeji and I both looked at each other with one eyebrow raising up. Chaeji then spoke up, "That's the petting zoo, Hanbinnie. The petting zoo."

"Dammit. Why can't the lion exhibit be right in front of the zoo?" Hanbin asks as he folds in arms together in annoyance. Along the pathway to the lions, scenery of the zoo in the winter is different from the summer. The snow banks on the sides of the path makes it seem like you're running through a maze. It makes the experience slightly more unique, but you're still in the same path anyway. The animals that we have passed by were pretty cool, but I'm just waiting on the lions.

Just then, Hanbin strolled over to the gorilla exhibit, "Guys, come over here!"

We followed him over to the gorilla exhibit, "Hanbin, are you sure this exhibit is open? What would the gorillas be doing in the middle of winter?" I questioned.

"Well, what would the lions be doing in the winter?"

"Point taken."

Seeing gorillas in the winter is the same as seeing them in any other season. They're in their dome for people to watch them sit and eat all day long. Hanbin's infatuated with gorillas. He even made a gorilla dance with his dance crew. Can you believe this kid? A dance dedicated to gorillas? Actually, I shouldn't be the one complaining. I once made my hair look similar to a lion's mane. Okay, that makes us even.

As I looked over at Hanbin, he was childishly grinning like a child in a candy store. He then looked over at Chaeji and I, "Guys, let's take a selca with the gorillas. Scratch that. We must take a selca with the gorillas."

We followed along and to our surprise, Hanbin was pulling on the strangest facial expressions I've ever seen—even more strange than my alien facial expressions. I guess he just loves gorillas more than Chaeji and I could ever imagine.

By the time we got to the lion exhibit, I was already exhausted. Again, the zoo's twisted pathways confuses the poop out of you.